Remember Your Pride
by Talbot-Stark
Summary: My take on a sequel to Simba's Pride. After fire destroys the Pridelands and kills her parents, Princess Adia must seek a new life in the Riverlands, where she makes friends... and enemies. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

"Sire, look to the west!"

Zazu's voice seemed to echo as Kovu sprinted to the western Pridelands. Earlier that day, Zazu had spotted the smoke—right where his daughter Adia had been playing with Kiara, Adia's mother and Kovu's mate.

Adia. Kovu's perfect little daughter, and the heir to the throne. Not one lioness in the pride didn't want Adia to be their own cub; she was quite beautiful, a light tan color with darker brown freckles and lighter tan ears, and she also had perfect manners. Or so they thought. In reality, Adia had been spoiled from the moment she was born, and so she was really quite obnoxious at times, acting like and demanding to be treated as a princess. The higher that cub stuck her nose in the air, the lower every other cub in the pride felt.

As Kovu got closer to the site of the blaze, fire became more and more visible, until it was right up ahead. And Kovu entered the fray.

A flame suddenly leaped up in front of him, and Kovu had to swerve. He felt his fur get singed, but he didn't care. All he cared about now was finding his family.

"Kiara!" Kovu cried out as well as he could in the smoke that threatened to choke him. "Adia! Kia… Kiara…" Kovu's eyes were watering, and his vision blurred. It was getting harder to breathe… his paw hit something, and Kovu felt his face come in contact with the ground… _Kiara_... _Adia_…

And everything went black.

"Kovu?" Kiara shrieked as fire nipped at her paws. "Kovu, where are you?" She had been running like this for a while, carrying her daughter and trying her best to dodge the flames. She thought she had heard him call out to her from far away… perhaps her mind had been playing a trick on her…

Kiara suddenly collided with a large boulder and realized she shouldn't have been thinking about that while running for her life. _But wait…_ Kiara suddenly realized… that was no boulder.

"Momma, what's going on?" Adia cried, and then realized what her mother was staring at. A lifeless Kovu was sprawled out in the dust.

Kiara wailed, laid Adia on the ash-covered ground, and collapsed on her mate's body. She cried like Adia had never seen her cry. Adia felt tears burn in her own ruby eyes, but couldn't cry over her father before Kiara gulped down her tears and whirled around to face her.

"Adia, I want you to run away," Kiara choked, her voice full of sorrow. "Run away and never return."

"Momma, where—?"

"Anywhere is better than here," Kiara whispered. "Find a new life, Adia, away from the Pridelands. Make your father proud, sweetheart." Kiara smiled warmly in spite of her tears.

"What will you do, Momma?" Adia felt scared for the first time in her life.

"Not now, Adia, go!" Kiara screamed as a flame threatened to separate her and her daughter. Adia dashed away and began to weave in and out of the flames. For a fleeting moment, she looked back and saw Kiara curling up beside Kovu. Adia watched, horrified, as they both were swallowed up by flames, and suddenly felt white-hot pain sear up her leg—her paw had been burned.

Adia yowled and tears began rolling down her face. She shook away her tears and her pain and kept running…

_Miles away, a lone lioness watched the princess suffer and the king and queen die. A smile played on the features of her face, cold and dark, like her soul. Kovu had betrayed her for the last time…_

_He thought she was dead._

_He had been glad she was dead._

_Now he paid the price._

_Zira threw back her head and laughed._

_"That was for Scar."_

**Hello, all! This is my first Lion King fanfic, pleeeeeeease gimme a break. I've been writing it for a while and at the moment I'm actually starting _chapter 7_. But my friend has been reading it and she liked it so I decided I wanted to post it on here. I'm going to tell you right now, though, I am a _serious_ procrastinator, and I probably will forget/put off posting chapters until weeks after I wrote them. Just a fair warning. Reviews are much appreciated, thanks!!**

**Aishia12675**

**P.S: Perhaps I should include a disclaimer. Yes, I think I will. Ahem, I do not own Lion King or Simba's Pride or any of those characters. Disney does. Good enough? ;) **


	2. Chapter 2

"C'mon, cub, speak to me, say something, anything!"

Adia forced her eyes to open a little. She winced as a stream of sunlight nearly blinded her and squinted at the silhouette before her. It was a lioness. Adia leaped to her paws immediately and huffed, "I am Adia, the princess of the Pridelands. Who are you?" She puffed out her chest importantly and scowled at the stranger. The elderly lioness was a dusty tan color, with a dark brown spot over one eye that reminded her of a cheetah's spots. She was also very scruffy, with some scars on her legs; just the sort Adia's mother would always warn her against associating with.

"Ha! Here's the important one, eh?" The old lioness laughed and ginned from ear to ear; she had a few teeth missing.

"I—" Adia squeaked, and then cleared her throat. "I ask you again. Who are you?"

"Well then, my name is Vita," Vita replied. "Such a young name for one so old, eh?"

"Erm…"

"Nah, don't answer that," Vita chuckled. "So, Miss Princess of the Pridelands, what are you doing in the Land of the River Pride?"

Adia was confused. "The Land of the—"

"River Pride, yeah," Vita smiled. "What, you've never heard of us?"

It just so happened that Adia had heard of the River Pride, but she had thought them to be just a myth, a cubhood story she had grown out of. The River Pride was a group of outcast lions and lionesses who had formed together and inhabited the Riverlands; the now lush and green Outlands. In many stories, the hero would come face-to-face with a Riverlander and wouldn't know if he would help him or oppose him.

"So…" Adia began, coming back to reality, "You're a Riverlander?"

"That's right," Vita said warmly. "But you still haven't answered my question, dearie. What are you doing in the Riverlands?"

"My… my parents died in a fire and… well, I was told to run away from the Pridelands… I'll bet the place is burned to a crisp now…" Adia sighed. Just then, a new thought occurred in her mind: would Vita take her in as a Riverlander? And if so… would she still be treated like a princess? Adia immediately scrunched her face into a pout. "I don't know what I should do."

Vita's smile vanished like magic. "Aw, my sweet, you can come with us. We always welcome newcomers… what's that on your paw?" Vita added suddenly, her gaze fixed on Adia's burned forepaw, which now looked a bit like it had died. "Oh, you poor thing!" Vita cried. Adia pouted again, but she secretly felt a flicker of hope for a new life away from her old pride. "Can you walk on that paw?" Vita asked worriedly.

"I… I think so, "Adia answered, putting on a fake grimace. "So… which way to the River Pride?"

**Second chapter! I know it _looks_ like this story revolves around Adia, but really it doesn't. Mostly it is about... two other characters you'll meet soon enough. ;) Once again, reviews are appreciated!**

**Aishia**


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, here we are," Vita announced after a short walk. "This is Den Valley." Adia couldn't believe her eyes. Never in her life had she seen such a collection of dens and caves! And in one den there was even a pile of fresh meat to pick from! Lions, lionesses, and cubs of all shapes, sizes, and colors were everywhere, playing or eating or cat-napping or scrapping or grooming each other.

"I'm hungry. I'll get you acquainted with the gang later; you get to know the cubs yourself," Vita said, smiling at Adia's reaction to Den Valley. "I'll be seeing you later, princess." With that, Vita joined the other elders in eating a zebra carcass.

Adia turned again to the pileup of scrapping cubs she had seen earlier, but they were no longer in a pile; they had obviously noticed her, and a reddish cub with two darker paws and two lighter ones was padding over to her.

"Hi," The cub grinned confidently. "My name's Ashad. Are you new here?"

"Yes," Adia answered, taken aback by Ashad's confident nature. "My name's Adia, I'm the princess of the Pridelands."

"Wow," An almost white cub breathed. "You're a real princess?"

"Khari, let her breathe," Ashad said, looking exasperated. "Adia, this is Khari. That's Hakan—" A copper cub with darker toes nodded. "This is Aruna—" A pretty dark brown lioness smiled warmly. "Over there, that's Nirav—" A short brown cub waved nervously with one paw. "Here's Rohana—" A scruffy tan lioness with darker paws squealed, "That's me!" "And that's Sonoma." A dusty brown lioness with random black spots flicked her tail and smiled shyly. Adia inclined her head politely to each one in turn, like her mother and father always would. Then something in a nearby den caught her eye: a dark brown cub with a tuft of black fur on his head. He seemed very lordly and walked with his tail and head held high.

"Ah," Aruna grinned. "I see you've noticed Bakari."

"Bakari?"

"Actually, he's _Prince_ Bakari." Sonoma corrected. "He's the prince of the River Pride, or at least, we think he is. There's no doubt in our minds he'll become king."

Adia frowned. "What do you mean, you think he'll be king?"

Hakan stepped forward. "Any lion who wants to be king can be king. They just have to fight each other for the title." Hakan paused for a moment, as if to add dramatic silence. "It's really the only violence that goes on around here."

Adia let out a low whistle.

"I feel really sorry for him, though," Rohana pitched in. "He was betrothed to… well… _her_." Every cub except Adia hissed at the mention of _her_.

"Who?" Adia felt left out not knowing who _she_ was.

"Her," spat Ashad, who looked uncharacteristically full of malice. He flicked his tail in the direction of a cub Adia hadn't noticed before, who was sitting alone and drawing something with her tail into the loose dirt in front of her. The lone cub was a light brown color with a dark brown stripe going down her back and paws the same color as that stripe. Adia squinted and realized that there was a pale yellow tag on one of her ears. Of all the cubs, that one looked the strangest.

"She's so weird, don't go near her," Rohana growled. "She might rub off on you." All the cubs shuddered.

"What do you mean, weird?" Adia asked. "Is she mean or something?"

"Not mean, I guess," said Nirav slowly. "Just really… weird. She never plays with the other cubs and she likes to… move the dirt around with her tail or something, and… well, she's just… she's just weird." Nirav finished lamely.

"Alright, well, I certainly won't go near _it_ if I have to," Adia squealed as though talking about something that might make her sick. Here was a cub she would never hang out with. Her thirst for popularity would never allow it.

And obviously, neither would the other cubs.

"Adia, you coming?" Ashad's voice brought Adia back to Den Valley. "We're gonna eat now…"

"Yeah, yeah, coming," Adia replied quickly and began to follow her new friends to the fresh kill pile.

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"…_her_."

Samirah watched her tail as it moved around in the sand, first this way, then that, creating a beautiful contour line illustrating almost perfectly the lines of Bakari's face. She picked up her tail, set it down again, and began drawing a new line from that point. That was Bakari's ear. Samirah smiled and started a new line… that was Bakari's eye. Soon the drawing was finished.

Samirah looked at her masterpiece and smiled a little. It was very lifelike… it was just like the real thing.

Just like the real thing.

Samirah suddenly smacked her paw onto her sketch of Bakari and began to smear the dirt around until all that was left of his face was half an ear and a distorted nose. Samirah grinned evilly; _that_ was what she had been longing to do the whole time. Oh, how she loathed that Bakari, with his annoying "I know everything" smirk and his stupid pet name for Samirah and how he always had this "I'm a prince and you're not—deal with it" way of prancing around… Samirah gave her drawing an extra whack.

"Just weird…" Samirah heard someone's voice from a little ways away. The other cubs seemed to have gotten to their favorite conversation subject: Samirah herself. She sighed and tried to ignore it.

"…never plays with the other cubs…"

_I would if you would let me,_ snapped a voice in Samirah's mind.

"…likes to move dirt around…"

_You want me to make a drawing of you and smash it too?_

"…she's just weird."

_Or she's just different._

Just then, a new voice came into the picture, one Samirah didn't recognize. She couldn't quite hear what she was saying, because her mind was too clouded by sudden thoughts. _I wonder_..._ could this cub be different? Maybe… maybe she might give me a chance!_

The new cub began to get up to eat, and Samirah seized the opportunity. "Hey," She yelped as the new cub was beginning to follow the other cubs. The new cub whirled around and stared at Samirah, eyes wide and bulging.

"Hi, I'm Samirah," Samirah began, hoping and praying that the new cub didn't believe any of the tales they had told. "You're new here right?" For some odd reason, the cub seemed at a loss for words. She nodded her head up and down dumbly. "Okay," Samirah tried again. "Listen, if you want a tour of the Riverlands, I can—"

"Look, I don't know you," the new cub interrupted nervously.

"I know, but—"

"No," the new cub whimpered, backing away from Samirah. "I don't know you. This conversation never happened. Don't tell anybody, or I'll…" her voice trailed off, but she recovered again. "Goodbye." And the cub raced off to her friends at the fresh kill pile.

Samirah sighed. The other cubs just HAD to spoil her chances of making a friend.

**Woah, look, I actually updated!!! Wow! Well, I think you should know who this story is mostly about now... :) Big thanks to all those who are reviewing-- and simply enjoying the story!  
**

**Aishia**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Far away on some future day…"_

Music. It always seemed to escape from Samirah, no matter how hard she tried to hold it in. The melody was soft and subtle, free and hauntingly beautiful.

"_There'll come a time when I can live free…"_

Music was Samirah's escape. After all, that was what her name meant: "music lover". But she didn't just love music… it was her dreamland, her cold reality, her true home, her… _everything_.

"_It's not the best… Being different from the rest…Being turned away…"_ Samirah paused to think of a word. _"…just for being me…"_

"That's _wonderful."_

Samirah whirled around to see a cub staring at her in awe. Samirah didn't recognize him; he was a golden sort of color with a tuft of fur on his head a bit darker than her own fur. He was, Samirah had to admit, pretty good-looking. But that didn't make up for spying on her.

Or for listening to her private song.

"Who are you?" Samirah snapped, glaring at him shrewdly and narrowing her sapphire eyes.

"Sorry," the cub apologized sheepishly. "It's just that I've never heard anybody sing like that before, it was really—"

"You still haven't answered my question," Samirah cut in, looking amused and a bit embarrassed, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"Right," the cub grinned a little. "My name's Kayin, I'm new here."

"See?" Samirah was smiling now. "That wasn't very hard was it? Oh no," She whimpered as she saw a posse of cubs in the corner of her eye move nearer and nearer, with Little Miss Princess leading the way.

For a long time, Samirah had thought she would never meet a cub she loathed more than Bakari. But then, that was before she met Adia.

It was like water and oil, to be honest.

"Well, well," Adia sneered, coming to a halt and planting herself in front of Samirah and Kayin. And yes, she knew for a fact that Samirah hated it when she did that. "New guy, eh? You better be careful," Adia added in sudden mock concern, "'cuz I don't think you want to be seen with an oversized rodent." The other cubs roared with laughter. Kayin began to say something in his new friend's defense, but something stopped him; perhaps it was the sudden smile that was starting at the corners of Samirah's mouth. Adia seemed to have noticed it too, and stopped laughing abruptly.

"You should be proud of yourself, Princess," Samirah sniggered. "That was almost half-intelligent. Way to go." And with that, Samirah turned and strode off, but not before swatting Adia's face with her tail.

"You're STUPID!" Adia screamed after Samirah, than turned to Kayin, now friendly. "Sorry about that," Adia apologized. "But really, you shouldn't be hanging around with _riffraff_ like her. Still, you didn't know."

"She seemed nice," Kayin said thoughtfully, gazing off in Samirah's direction.

"Hmfft," Adia snorted. "C'mon, we're gonna eat." It wasn't really an offer; it was more of an order.

"No, thanks, I'm… not hungry," Kayin mumbled.

**Aah, now enters a new character who will be playing a particularly large part in this story... grins evilly More to come!!!  
**

**Aishia**


	5. Chapter 5

_A very young Samirah sat huddled and trembling in the corner of a poorly-made artificial cave. Eyes wide open and frightened, she stared fixedly at one wall of the cave. "I hope it comes," Samirah whispered anxiously to herself, not daring to blink._

_Then a pair of eyes appeared on the wall._

_Right away, Samirah dashed to the cave wall and found herself looking at a girl, a human girl, though at the time, Samirah had no idea what she was. The girl was staring at Samirah as intently as Samirah had been staring at her. Then, the girl picked up a pencil and began to lightly sketch a circle. She added eyes. A nose. Whiskers. Ears. That little tag on the ear that all zoo animals get at one point in their lives. And all the while, Samirah watched. _

_Soon the girl had finished. The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile, and she showed Samirah her drawing with a flourish. Samirah was speechless._

_It looked just like the real thing._

_Slowly, tentatively, Samirah lifted up the end of her tail and laid it out in front of herself. She began moving it around in the dirt, lightly sketching a circle. She added eyes. A nose. Whiskers. Ears. That little tag on the ear that all zoo animals get..._

_Soon she had finished her first drawing. She was once again astounded at how lifelike it seemed. _

_She knew this was a thing she would never lose._

_The next night, she had found herself shaken awake from pleasant dreams, taken by the scruff of the neck, shoved into a tiny crate, and shipped to Africa._

Samirah knew that was the reason that no one liked her. She had come from this odd place called "Zoo". She bore the trademark tag on her ear that all animals from the land of Zoo wore. She had learned a weird habit from a strange alien creature from Zoo.

But that didn't make her any different from the other lionesses.

Samirah sighed. Being the mature one was proving quite difficult at the moment. Kayin… the way he was so amusing and nice to her… he had felt like the cure for all she had been deprived of since she had arrived to the Riverlands. And, as always, little miss "I'm-a-Princess-and-Should-be-Treated-Like-One" had stolen him away, like she had stolen away so many other things that had given her comfort. But this truth had made Samirah realize something.

She hated that cub more and more with each passing minute.

"Hey," came a soft voice. Knowing already who would be standing behind her, Samirah turned and saw Kayin, looking sheepish and apologetic.

"Careful," Samirah snapped. "You don't want the oversized rodent to give you rabies."

"Don't worry," Kayin replied, smirking. "I ditched her at the fresh kill pile." He nodded his head back at Adia, who was babbling nonstop and batting her eyelashes at a very bored looking Bakari.

"You know what, you're a pretty good judge of character."

"Yeah?" Kayin snorted. "How so?"

"You saw right through Adia the minute you met her. What did you learn first, that she's a vain jerk or that she's got the IQ of a dead mosquito?"

"Both," Kayin laughed. "At least a mosquito could figure out a better comeback than 'you're STUPID!'"

"Thank you, Kayin the magnificent," Samirah sneered. "So, I guess you've met everyone, right?"

"Well, no… just Adia."

Samirah stared. "You mean I have to tell you about _all_ of them?"

"Erm…"

"Ugh," Samirah groaned.

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"So, who's the spotty, irritatingly innocent one?"

"Sonoma," Kayin stated immediately.

"Gooooood," Samirah sang, then drilled him once again. "And how 'bout the guy with nothing on his head?"

"Hakan," Kayin choked, obviously holding back a laugh. "I've seen _kits_ with bigger manes."

"_Vita _has more of a mane," Samirah laughed, grinning her rare grin. "Well, looks like you know 'em all, except…" Samirah's expression darkened. "Oh no…"

"What?"

"He's not with Adia anymore, that means… Oh, by Simba, hide me." Samirah started looking panicked.

"What?" Kayin began to look more urgent.

"It's—"

"Hey, Samirah." A handsome, dark brown cub stepped out from under the shade of the baobab tree nearest them and faced the two cubs. Kayin was amazed at how lordly he seemed; he had an _aura_ of royalty.

"What do you want?" Samirah said through tightly clenched teeth.

"Aw," Bakari rubbed his shoulder against Samirah's; she shook him off roughly and began to lick her shoulder clean, her lip curled in disgust. Bakari didn't give up so easily, though. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to take a walk. You don't have to hang out with _him_," he added in a stage whisper, nodding back at Kayin, who was now looking rather offended.

"If I hadn't wanted to hang out with him, I wouldn't be right now," Samirah said coldly. "Or has your smallish brain not been able to comprehend that yet?"

"Now, now, there's no need for insults, Sami," Bakari simpered. "Why are you always so _mean_ to me?"

"Because you seem to have embedded the thought that we _belong together_ in your mind, which, by the way, happens to be smallish."

"Aaaah, spunky," Bakari sighed, swishing his tail under Samirah's chin; Samirah took a snap at it and missed by mere inches. "That's my girl. I guess you don't want to take a walk then… see ya 'round." With that, Bakari turned and trotted away, tail and head still held high.

"For the last time, _I am not your girl_!" Samirah shouted after him, then, more to herself than anyone else, added, "I don't belong to anyone."

Kayin stared, wondering if it was a wise decision to talk to her. He did. "Eh… so that, I presume, would be Bakari?"

"Yep," Samirah growled. "Whoop-de-doo."

"The dumb only seem to get dumber, huh?"

"Amen."

**HOLY CRAP! AN UPDATE! TIS A MIRACLE! ...So. Bakari. Ah, yes, he'll only become a bigger and bigger character in this story... **

**Allie **


	6. Chapter 6

"…_just for being me…"_

"Singing again?"

Samirah immediately snapped out of her songwriting trance and turned to face an amused-looking Kayin.

"Yeah, got a problem with that?" Samirah cuffed his ear with her paw, mock-growling. "Somehow I never seem to get past that one point without you interrupting me."

"I didn't mean to!" Kayin whined, rubbing his ear. "And that kinda hurt."

"Crybaby," Samirah sneered. Without warning, a golden blur barreled full-on into her, knocking her on her back; the next thing Samirah knew, she was pinned to the ground, Kayin breathing in her face.

"Ack, get off me, you STINK!"

"_Pinned ya,_" Kayin laughed. "Admit it."

"C'mon, get off you big—" Samirah fell silent, suddenly tense. "You feel that?"

"Yeah, _victory_," said Kayin proudly, obviously unaware of Samirah's sudden panic.

"Not that!" Samirah kicked Kayin off of her, Kayin letting out a breathless "hoof!" "That… you… you can't feel it?"

"I… feel… _nothin'_," Kayin said uncertainly.

"It's gone… no, wait!"

There was a sudden rumbling beneath both cubs' paws, making both the ground and the young lions tremble. Samirah turned slowly. "Great kings…"

With a growing feeling of dread, Kayin whirled around to face a stampede of wildebeests cascading over a hill— _straight for them._ The cubs only had time for one breath before they were swallowed up by the massive herd.

The unsteady rhythm of thudding hooves against the earth echoed the pounding of Samirah's heart in her throat. Dust was choking her and clouding her eyesight, so much that she could barely manage a hoarse "Kayin" without getting sand in her mouth…

Suddenly, Samirah's paws collided with a furry golden mound. Knowing already who it was, she grabbed Kayin by the scruff of the neck and ran as fast as her already tired legs would permit. Seeing the faint outline of a tree in the distance, she coiled her legs and sprang up, landing perfectly.

"Kayin?" Samirah shrieked over the thundering herd. Kayin gave a little cough and began to stir. Samirah's sigh of relief suddenly caught up in her throat when she heard a faint scream— _there was a cub trapped in the stampede._ Samirah looked up. "You royal dead guys up there better give me a break!"

Samirah narrowed her eyes and watched the wildebeests below intently, then dropped from the tree right onto the back of one. It reared up and whinnied. "Deal with it or we'll both die!" Samirah roared into the creature's ear, and it fell silent straightaway. Samirah scanned the ground until she caught sight of a huddled and trembling lion cub among the chaos: Adia. Samirah grabbed her and heaved her up onto the wildebeest with her, Adia still shaking like a leaf. Her eyes widened as she realized who her rescuer was, and she trembled even more.

"Get a grip," Samirah snapped. She turned and nodded towards a rocky cliff. "See that? If we can just jump at the right time—"

"Uh uh," Adia whimpered. "Not gonna jump."

"You'd rather die?"

Adia winced, then turned and jumped. She landed on the edge of the cliff, holding on for dear life. Samirah jumped next, landing purposefully underneath her and clinging on to the rock.

"Help-me-I'm-slipping-_I'm-gonna-diiiiiiie!" _Adia wailed. Suddenly, she felt a huge boost from under her and was sent flying up to the top of the cliff. She was saved; she could leave now. But something held her back.

Samirah's claws felt frayed and tender from hanging on to the rock; she was tired already. If only she could just…

_Look down…_

…pull herself up…

_Look down…_

If only she knew why she had such a burning desire to look down…

_Look…_

…_down…_

She did.

What Samirah saw chilled her to the bone. Wildebeests—hundreds, thousand, millions of them—running, digging their hooves into the ground, wishing instead that they could be crushing Samirah's bones…

"Help me!" Samirah gasped, staring pleadingly at Adia, who didn't move. Samirah felt, for the first time in her life, _afraid._ She tried shutting her eyes to block out the scene… it didn't work… she heard the scuffling of paws running away and knew they were Adia's—she was alone…

Death waited for her at the bottom of the cliff…

"Samirah!"

Samirah forced her eyes open and saw Kayin, his paw outstretched to reach hers. "Give me your paw!"

But Samirah couldn't let go, she'd fall. She shut her eyes again and managed a weak "nooo…"

"Please, Mira," Kayin whispered, his eyes softening. "Trust me…"

Sapphire eyes met ruby ones, and Samirah understood. He would never let her fall. Gathering all her strength, she wrenched her paw from the rock and took Kayin's. There was a terrible jerk; Kayin hadn't been ready, they were both going to fall now… they were both going to die…

It would be her fault…

Suddenly, there was a tug.

Samirah stared incredulously at Vita as she pulled both cubs to safety, Adia at her heels.

"You poor thing," Vita crooned, stroking Samirah's fur with her tongue. "You're lucky Princess Adia came to me at just the right time, she's quite the little heroine, isn't she?"

Samirah didn't say anything. She was quivering from head to paw, hot tears spilling down the sides of her face.

"I…" came a soft voice. "Vita, I'm… not a heroine."

Samirah's head snapped up, her look of amazement matching Kayin's. Adia, _confessing?_

"She… Samirah… saved me down there," Adia murmured. "Without her, I'd be dead."

"Vita looked surprised as well. "Oh…" She rounded on Samirah. "I'm sorry sweetheart. Forgive me?"

"Of c-course." There was a deeper meaning to Vita's apology that Samirah knew very well; Vita had been one of those who had paid the least attention to "the little zoo cub."

As Vita turned to leave, Adia went over to face Samirah. Both cubs looked very embarrassed, then they both muttered a "thanks" at the same time and Adia rushed back over to Vita.

Samirah sighed deeply. "Thank Mohatu that's over…"

"Hey, Mira?" Kayin asked, turning to Samirah slowly.

"Mmmm?"

"I've never seen you so frightened. What… made you so scared?"

Samirah looked at him for a moment. It wasn't a glare; it was simply a _look_. "The great king of the Pridelands, Mufasa. He died in a stampede."

**I enjoyed writing this very much, thank you for asking.**

**Allie **


	7. Chapter 7

"Face it, you just can't beat me."

"I did once!" Kayin snapped at Samirah, who had him pinned to the ground under her—for the third time in a row.

"Yeah," Samirah sighed, getting off him and looking at him like he was a thing to be pitied. "_Once. _It's just pathetic. If you can't beat me, you won't beat the other cubs when the time comes to find a new ruler for this pride. Now go again." She turned around deliberately and planted herself down on the dry land a few tree-lengths away from him.

Concentrating on his pounce once again, Kayin flattened himself to the ground and slowly crept forward. He gradually began rising to a crouch, and quickened his pace. Focusing on Samirah's brown silhouette, he broke into a run, coiled his legs up tight, and pounced—

Only to have Samirah lazily step out of his way.

Kayin landed face-first in the dust. Snarling, he doubled back and faced Samirah, who was yawning. He lashed out at her, his claws still sheathed, and… missed. Samirah dodged and scooted behind him. Kayin turned again, but he was getting dizzy, and Samirah knew it. He took a swipe at her with his paw, missed again, slipped on the sandy earth, and fell awkwardly on one side. Samirah sighed and stretched her paw out to pin him down once again.

"You," Samirah groaned, "are really _sad_."

"You just know all my tricks," Kayin snapped. "Now, to a cub who's never fought me—"

"It would just be worse," Samirah cut in calmly. "'cuz they wouldn't be half as nice to you as I am, and so they'd strut around telling the whole savannah."

"You've said so before, though, I do better when I'm taken by surprise, maybe if you tried—" Suddenly a brown blur barreled into him and knocked him to the ground. Kayin lashed out blindly, then kicked. He heard a breathless "hoof" and knew immediately he'd hit his mark. While Samirah was out of breath, he leaped, smacked her to the ground and let out a triumphant yowl of victory.

"That was certainly an impro-o-vement…" Samirah coughed, still sounding breathless. "You _do_ do better without warning…"

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Kayin asked anxiously, then added, "Whoa, that was a change…"

A booming roar suddenly made both cubs jump out of their skins. "All boys gather near the hunting grounds," a firm voice demanded. Kayin looked questioningly at Samirah, who whispered, "It'll be Azad." Another questioning glance, and Samirah added, "You know… the big man, ruler, whatever… I _did_ tell you about him, right?" Kayin shook his head mutely, eyes wide. "Ohhhh," Samirah whimpered. "Um, good luck." She pushed him into the crowd of cubs heading toward the hunting grounds.

Kayin wandered through the chaos frantically, watching the cubs in front of him and following them. He vaguely heard a cub whisper, "See that tan pansy earlier? Got beat up three times _by a girl!"_ Kayin maneuvered up to the cub, stuck his snout near his ear and let out a short but deafening yowl, making the cub jump and knock over about five others.

Soon they reached the hunting grounds. Azad, who looked remarkably like Bakari, turned to face the rowdy cubs. "All right, listen up," He shouted, silencing them all immediately. "I know each of you want to rule this pride," he began, letting his slate-gray eyes rest on each cub in turn. "Well, if you can't fight, you have no chance. You might as well leave right now, no one's stopping you." His gaze lingered for a moment on Kayin, and Kayin gulped. _Did he see Samirah beat me?_ He thought to himself, but Azad's ringing voice shook him out of his thoughts. "Not leaving, eh? I want you all to partner up." There was a sudden shuffling of dirt and yelping of names, and soon Kayin was left partnerless and feeling humiliated.

"Awww, no partner?" Azad cooed in a mock baby-voice. His stern gray eyes scanned the crowd, and he suddenly snapped, "Bakari! Come here, son, and show how a _real_ lion fights." The crowd parted as if on cue, to reveal a smug looking Bakari. He looked as though dinner had come early.

"I want you two to face off, and spar when I get to three," Azad sneered. "Try not to cry," he added, casting a dirty look in Kayin's direction. The two cubs faced each other, Kayin trying to meet Bakari's stare steadily.

"One…"

_Pathetic…_

"…two…"

_Beat up by a_ girl_…_

"…three."

Kayin saw, as if in slow motion, Bakari lunge at him. He dodged him easily, and moved to another angle. Bakari spun quickly, looking a bit confused, and lashed out at Kayin again. Kayin suddenly remembered what Samirah did when _he_ had lashed out at her, and he dashed behind Bakari, a big smile now playing on the features of his face. Bakari whirled around and slipped, and Kayin moved in. He leaped and had pinned Bakari to the ground when—

"Aaaargh!" Pain seared through Kayin's face, one of his eyes suddenly blinded. Abandoning Bakari, he rubbed his hurt eye with the back of his paw and saw blood staining his fur. He gasped, and a sudden force rammed into his stomach, taking his breath away and knocking him to the ground—Bakari had pinned him to the ground. Kayin waited for Azad's "you cheated" snarl, but it never came. And then Kayin understood: he had wiped off the blood with his paw.

"Well done, son!" Azad laughed triumphantly, cuffing Bakari's ear. "You showed him, eh?"

"Yeah," Bakari sneered, looking back at Kayin and smirking. "It was easy… give him a false sense of security and you're sure to win…"

Azad smiled proudly, leered down at Kayin, and strode over to the other pairs of cubs. Kayin glowered and stalked back to Den Valley.

Samirah was waiting for him. "I heard you guys were called over there to spar. How did it go?"

"Shut it," Kayin snapped. "I don't want to talk about it, and _you_ won't make me feel any better about it."

Samirah blinked. "Fine," she answered coolly. "I won't ask. Since you really seem to want me to, I'll just leave." Samirah turned and strode away.

"Wait!" Kayin caught up to her, looking apologetic. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just, I would've won, if Bakari hadn't cheated."

"Cheated?" Samirah repeated, looking confused. "How… aaah," she whispered, looking at the back of his paw. _"What a little—"_

"Hold it!" Kayin yelped, surprised at Samirah's outburst. "You—"

"Hold it! How can I do that?" she shouted, looking furious. "When I sink my claws into him—"

"So I can't take care of him myself?" Kayin asked quietly. Samirah looked thunderstruck.

"I didn't mean that," she said in a hushed voice.

"I know you didn't," Kayin smiled warmly. "This is my fight, not yours."

Samirah started to smile, then looked back at Bakari. Her smile became considerably larger.

"What?"

"You could've beaten him… looks like Bakari's got competition." Samirah grinned mischievously. Yet Kayin was sure that the twinkle in her eye had another meaning, too.

**Ooh, anybody have an idea what the eye twinkling was about? Well, anywho...reviews are appreciated!**

**Allie**


End file.
